Conventionally, accessories for a video camera, such as a light unit, a microphone and a liquid crystal monitor, have been used and put into operation by means of a supply source of an external power source, e.g., a portable battery pack or a stationary electrical outlet, via an electrical cord or wire, or interchangeable batteries housed in each accessory. Usually, the accessory is mounted on a shoe attached to the video camera body. Thus, with the use of electric current supplied from the external power source, some inconveniences, such as entanglement of the electric cord, were caused during picture-taking operation. On the other hand, the accessory which houses the supply source (batteries) therein, and which has been used to avoid the aforementioned inconveniences, is inconvenient for other reasons. The batteries of the video camera body and the batteries of the accessory in use are provided separately from each other, and, accordingly, power consumption by the video camera body and that of the accessory are different, thereby resulting in different lengths of life of the batteries, which, in turn, requires that the batteries in the video camera body and those in the accessory be changed separately and at different times. Further, housing of batteries inside the accessory provides a certain limitation to make the accessory a smaller size, due to the space required for containing the batteries.
The object of the present invention is to provide an adapter for mounting the accessory for the video camera, which eliminates the above-mentioned inconveniences and drawbacks in handling the accessory. Specifically, the present invention provides an accessory shoe adapter for the video camera which allows the video camera and the accessory to share a common supply source.